The parseInt() function parses a string argument and returns an integer of the specified radix (the base in mathematical numeral systems).

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Syntax

parseInt(string, radix);

Parameters

string

The value to parse. If the string argument is not a string, then it is converted to a string (using the ToString abstract operation). Leading whitespace in the string argument is ignored.

radix

An integer between 2 and 36 that represents the radix (the base in mathematical numeral systems) of the above mentioned string.

Return value

An integer number parsed from the given string. If the first character cannot be converted to a number, NaN is returned.

Description

The parseInt function converts its first argument to a string, parses it, and returns an integer or NaN. If not NaN, the returned value will be the integer that is the first argument taken as a number in the specified radix (base). For example, a radix of 10 indicates to convert from a decimal number, 8 octal, 16 hexadecimal, and so on. For radices above 10, the letters of the alphabet indicate numerals greater than 9. For example, for hexadecimal numbers (base 16), A through F are used.

If parseInt encounters a character that is not a numeral in the specified radix, it ignores it and all succeeding characters and returns the integer value parsed up to that point. parseInt truncates numbers to integer values. Leading and trailing spaces are allowed.

Because some numbers include the e character in their string representation (e.g. 6.022e23), using parseInt to truncate numeric values will produce unexpected results when used on very large or very small numbers. parseInt should not be used as a substitute for Math.floor().

If radix is undefined or 0 (or absent), JavaScript assumes the following:

If the input string begins with "0x" or "0X", radix is 16 (hexadecimal) and the remainder of the string is parsed.

If the input string begins with "0", radix is eight (octal) or 10 (decimal). Exactly which radix is chosen is implementation-dependent. ECMAScript 5 specifies that 10 (decimal) is used, but not all browsers support this yet. For this reason always specify a radix when using parseInt.

If the input string begins with any other value, the radix is 10 (decimal).

If the first character cannot be converted to a number, parseInt returns NaN.

For arithmetic purposes, the NaN value is not a number in any radix. You can call the isNaN function to determine if the result of parseInt is NaN. If NaN is passed on to arithmetic operations, the operation results will also be NaN.

To convert number to its string literal in a particular radix use intValue.toString(radix).

parseInt(4.7, 10);
parseInt(4.7 * 1e22, 10); // Very large number becomes 4
parseInt(0.00000000000434, 10); // Very small number becomes 4

The following example returns 224:

parseInt('0e0', 16);

Octal interpretations with no radix

Although discouraged by ECMAScript 3 and forbidden by ECMAScript 5, many implementations interpret a numeric string beginning with a leading 0 as octal. The following may have an octal result, or it may have a decimal result. Always specify a radix to avoid this unreliable behavior.

ECMAScript 5 removes octal interpretation

The ECMAScript 5 specification of the function parseInt no longer allows implementations to treat Strings beginning with a 0 character as octal values. ECMAScript 5 states:

The parseInt function produces an integer value dictated by interpretation of the contents of the string argument according to the specified radix. Leading white space in string is ignored. If radix is undefined or 0, it is assumed to be 10 except when the number begins with the character pairs 0x or 0X, in which case a radix of 16 is assumed.

This differs from ECMAScript 3, which discouraged but allowed octal interpretation.

Many implementations have not adopted this behavior as of 2013, and because older browsers must be supported, always specify a radix.

A stricter parse function

It is sometimes useful to have a stricter way to parse int values. Regular expressions can help: